Description of Research Expertise

Research in the laboratory is focused on how diet, both prenatally and postnatally, can affect the development and function of central nervous system pathways that regulate appetite and reward. Using mouse models, we are interested in behavioral, gene expression, functional neuroanatomical and epigenetic endpoints.

In the prenatal period, we are interested in how either maternal undernutrition or overnutrition can affect the development of CNS circuitry in the offspring. A primary focus involves understanding dysregulation within the dopamine and opioid systems. Additionally, in the postnatal period, we are interested in how chronic ingestion of a high fat diet and the resultant obesity can alter CNS pathways that regulate appetite and reward-related behavior. The lab is interested in defining epigenetic mechanisms that link nutritional changes with altered gene expression in the brain.

Additionally, research in the lab examines neuroinflammation, primarily in the hypothalamus, in an effort to understand the importance of the CNS inflammatory response to external stressors.

Description of Itmat Expertise

Dr. Reyes’s research focuses on the role of maternal dietary factors (over - or under-nutrition) on the development of CNS pathways that regulate food intake and metabolism, reward processing and stress responses.

Reyes Teresa M, Sawchenko Paul E: Involvement of the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus in interleukin-1-induced anorexia. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 22(12): 5091-9, Jun 2002.